Martin McGuinness frequently said that I had a naive streak, that my belief there were some kind of checks and balances in the British system that would hold those accountable for crimes committed during the Troubles was totally misplaced.

I used to suggest there would have to be, eventually, some kind of recognition for victims of state violence.

McGuinness was adamant there wasn’t a hope in hell that this would happen.

The Brits, he told me on many occasions, were masters of ‘the dark arts’ and all evidence of any crimes they committed would be buried deeper than the Mariana Trench long before any court would get its hands on it.

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I suppose I should state in my own defence that I was, back in my youthful days, buoyed in my beliefs by the integrity of people like John Stalker, the British cop who refused to play the game of absolving those who had committed crimes here.

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